Futures point to a mixed session
U.S. stocks look likely to open mixed on Tuesday, following a weak close yesterday, as market participants await the start of the third-quarter corporate earnings season.
At around 6:20 a.m. ET, the blue-chip Dow futures gave away 55 points, or 0.16% to 34,321. S&P 500 futures lost 4.25 points, or 0.10% to 4,346.75 while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures were up 15.5 points, or 0.11% to 14,716.
Today’s economic data comes from the U.S. Labor Department, which is scheduled to release its monthly Job Openings and Labor Turnover survey (JOLTs) for August.
The JOLTs report, due to be released shortly after the opening bell, is important as it helps economists and traders to understand the problems structural change is creating in the jobs market.
House to vote on temporary lift of debt ceiling
The U.S. House of Representatives is today set hold a vote on a bill to temporarily raise the federal government’s $28.4 trillion debt limit and avoid the risk of a historic default this month.
The stopgap measure, which was approved by the Senate on Thursday, is expected to pass the Democratic-controlled House before it’s sent to President Joe Biden to be signed into law.
The legislation seeks to raise the debt ceiling by $480 billion, a figure that would allow the U.S. to pay its bills through Dec. 3.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has repeatedly warned lawmakers that her department would likely exhaust its cash-conservation extraordinary measures by Oct. 18 if they don’t act.
Southwest Airlines cancels more flights
In other news, Southwest Airlines has canceled more flights, following hundreds of cancelations during the weekend.
The low-cost carrier scrapped nearly 10% of its flight on Monday, laying the blame on weather and external constraints.
Over the weekend, the carrier canceled more than 1,800 flights, citing disruptive weather and air traffic control.
Shares of Southwest tumbled 4.2% to end Monday’s regular trading session at $51.67.
